My boy is turning 5 years old in April 
In April last year, I took him to the vet after seeing him straining in the litter box even though he wasn't crying in pain. The vet performed x-rays, ultrasound, urinalysis but didn't find stones. He was diagnosed with cystitis and was ordered to eat Hills Prescription Diet for a month. Another urinalysis a month later was fine, so I stopped feeding the prescription diet because he didn't like it at all, often refusing to eat and developed diarrhea.
Since he was a kitten, I have fed him and his sister home cooked raw chicken diet with all the supplements (taurine, vitamin B-complex, E, lite iodized salt, etc.) as well as chicken necks. I suspect too much bones from chicken necks and dry treats are responsible for cystitis but am not sure. I reduced the amount of chicken necks given to him from maximum two to one neck a day, or less.
Things were back to normal until yesterday, almost a year later, when he left a few blood droplets on the lawn after he squatted. In the last couple of weeks I had actually noticed a pink-ish color in clumping litter a few times but wasn't very much concerned because he was peeing fine and his appetite was excellent. Just to be safe, I took him to the vet and after the urinalysis, the vet told us that he had crystals in his bladder and possibly bacteria. They said blood was in his urine. They gave him metacam and methone injections.
The results of his urinalysis:
BLD: 4+
pH: 7
LEU 3+
PRO: 3+
GLU: neg
KET: neg
UBG: norm
BIL: neg
Now, how can I put a stop to this recurring episode? I can entice him to drink more water by adding chicken broth to the water but don't really want to eliminate chicken necks entirely for his dental health. I can also switch treats from dry to wet forms. It might not look like it but he might also be stressed due to changes in surrounds, and to make things worse we are moving overseas in less than a month!
In April last year, I took him to the vet after seeing him straining in the litter box even though he wasn't crying in pain. The vet performed x-rays, ultrasound, urinalysis but didn't find stones. He was diagnosed with cystitis and was ordered to eat Hills Prescription Diet for a month. Another urinalysis a month later was fine, so I stopped feeding the prescription diet because he didn't like it at all, often refusing to eat and developed diarrhea.
Since he was a kitten, I have fed him and his sister home cooked raw chicken diet with all the supplements (taurine, vitamin B-complex, E, lite iodized salt, etc.) as well as chicken necks. I suspect too much bones from chicken necks and dry treats are responsible for cystitis but am not sure. I reduced the amount of chicken necks given to him from maximum two to one neck a day, or less.
Things were back to normal until yesterday, almost a year later, when he left a few blood droplets on the lawn after he squatted. In the last couple of weeks I had actually noticed a pink-ish color in clumping litter a few times but wasn't very much concerned because he was peeing fine and his appetite was excellent. Just to be safe, I took him to the vet and after the urinalysis, the vet told us that he had crystals in his bladder and possibly bacteria. They said blood was in his urine. They gave him metacam and methone injections.
The results of his urinalysis:
BLD: 4+
pH: 7
LEU 3+
PRO: 3+
GLU: neg
KET: neg
UBG: norm
BIL: neg
Now, how can I put a stop to this recurring episode? I can entice him to drink more water by adding chicken broth to the water but don't really want to eliminate chicken necks entirely for his dental health. I can also switch treats from dry to wet forms. It might not look like it but he might also be stressed due to changes in surrounds, and to make things worse we are moving overseas in less than a month!
